Author Archives: Maria Rivadeneyra Herrera

Immigration and missing food from back home

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So many people move to Canada and of course one of the cities they do is Vancouver from all around the world from many different reasons like studies, work, seeking better future and more.

Moving to a new country and or city is always exciting but also there many things that people leave back home in order to move, and at the beginning can sounds like a new adventure but after few months there’s many things that you can end up missing a lot.

... servus Bayern!

Of course, some of the things you will miss the most is your family, friends and home, but have you ever thought about how much people can miss the weather and food too?

I’m originally from Mexico and I moved to Vancouver for studies, I miss a lot my family and friends, but also Mexico is a warm and sunny country, when it comes to rainy and dark days is so different for me and makes me miss home and the sun.

But the food, that’s the thing I miss the most as well as many Mexicans and immigrants from other countries also mention they mention their traditional food from back home.

There are so many Mexican restaurants around the city with great taste for sure, but as good as it can be there will never be as good as it is back home when also is sometimes home made by your mom or your grandma.

The food from Mexico is well known around the world as one of the best kind of foods that exist and having that in the actual county is even better, it has way much more flavor and even the tortillas are hand made and as well there’s some fresh veggies and fruits.

Taco!

So now whenever you meet someone from another country you can know that even missing the food can be hard for them or if you’re from somewhere else tell us, do you miss the food from your country too?

Inclusion in the film industry

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Nowadays almost all the big film production companies are starting to include people from unrepresented – groups like Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, Muslims and people with disabilities and this is something very important because it lets people see how the real world is and how important is to have diversity not only in the film industry but in every place and accept each other as we are.

Do you know that back in 2019 only 34% of the speaking characters were women or girls, one third of the movies did not include any black-identifying character, there was over 70 movies with not a single Latina on it and there was less than 2.5% people with disabilities with a speaking role?

Also, things started to improve after 2015 when people started to realized that there was only white people nominated for the 20 acting categories for the Academy Awards.

I think is very important to include everyone in this industry, everyone has the right to work, to show their talent but also the audience from every world should be able to identify with amazing characters. Recently the Walt Disney Company released the trailer for their new live action “The little Mermaid” starring Halle Bailey, and many girls were so excited and happy to se that they look like the new little mermaid, here is a cute video were you can see some of this little girls:

I am a Latina actress with an accent, when I started my acting career many teachers told me I need to get rid of my accent or I would never make it in the film industry, now that I start to see diversity it gives me hopes for me as a Latina too.

I hope Hollywood and all this film production industries keep doing great including people from diverse backgrounds in any kind of movie, not matter what the animation version was, at the end of the day we have been progressing and it’s amazing that Hollywood is showing that too.

Horse racings, what is it and where you can see them in Vancouver

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The modern Horse race or the horse racing as we know it nowadays begun in the 18th Century. The first horse race happened in England back in 1776 but horse races itself have been happening since 700-40 BCE in Greece.

So, what is Horse racing?

Horse racing is an equestrian “sport” where two or more horses ridden by jockeys are speeding to be the first to reach the finish line.

In the horse racing competitions people usually gamble and bet in their favorite horse, the money for each horse put all together and of course if the horse which get more people betting for wins, that people will get less money since they divide the money that was bet for that horse.

Now maybe you wonder why you haven’t seen horse racings in the Olympics, and the reasons is the gambling, this sport is considered a betting-first sport, people usually bet in sports but in horse racing this is a big market and people usually watch it just for the betting and not as a sport itself.

But watching the races are fun, and you do not have to bet any money, also do you know that in Vancouver you can go see the live for free?

The Hastings horse racecourse is in the PNE, the entrance is by the gate 6 or 9 (188 N Renfrew St. Vancouver. B.C.) and the racings are happening every Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. until October 16th that’s the end of the season and you don’t need to book anything to be there.

So, if you like horses and would like to experience a race live this is something you can do with all your family and friends and for sure will have a great time there!

Fun things to do in metro Vancouver when it rains

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As we know the rainy season is coming back to Vancouver and you might wonder what to do now that is going to be hard to be outdoors, and of course staying at home should not be the option because there’s so many fun things you can do in many indoor places, and here we are going to tell you some of them:

  • Extreme air park:

Do you like to jump around, climb walls, play basketball, and have lots of fun? Well extreme air park is an amazing thing to try it is a trampoline park with a foam pool and some climbing walls and you can pay for the number of hours you want to be there, for sure you will have a fun and extreme time in there! And they have three locations, New Westminster, Richmond, and Langley.

  • Escape rooms:
    If you’re a board games or videogames fan, an escape room is an amazing thing for you to experience since is like being part of one! The room is teamed with the game you’re doing, and you have less than an hour to solve it and leave, but don’t worry, if you feel you’re not good solving games they have different levels so you can still play and of course escape!
    Some of the places you can find are “Hide and seek”, “I-exit” and “EXIT”

 

  • Rec room:
    Do you like Arcades? The rec room is the best one to experience for all the family, kids and adults can play so much fun games and win some prices! This arcade is at the Brentwood mall in Burnaby, and they sell food too! Kids must be with and adult to be able to come in.

Some other places to go:
As these places, there’s more fun places to go to like laser tags, go karts, indoors wall climbing, science world and many more! Do you know a fun place to go when it’s raining? Leave it to us in the comments!

Cats, the perfect pet for a small space

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Do you ever think you want to have a pet but don’t have enough space to have it or enough time to be with him? Well cats are an amazing option to have as pets, specially in cities like Vancouver that the living spaces are small, and here are some reasons why these animals can be a great company for you:

  • Cats are very quiet:
    Their “meow” never will be as loud as a bark, they might run around the house, but they are still not doing noise, unless they throw something heavy of course.
  • They are easy to be trained:
    Different than dogs, cats do not need to be trained, you just need their litter box and show them where it is, and they will use it from then on.
  • Cats are great for an apartment:
    These animals do not need a lot of space, you can add just some vertical castles where they can play and jump to, but they don’t have the need to go out for walks or run in the park.
  • Not need to spend much money on them:
    Cats don’t eat as much as dogs; they also don’t need as many toys or treats and when it comes to grooming o baths it’s not necessary for these animals since they’re very clean.
  • They are independent:
    A cat can be alone at home for hours, they also sleep about 15 hours, and they don’t get bored when they are alone, they are happy by themselves and don’t require as much attention as a dog does.

This are some reasons why a cat can be a great company for you if you live in a small place and also they are adorable and you will love it!

You know what is the D23 expo by Disney?

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The D23 is the official Disney company fan club, and it host a big expo every two years in Anaheim California where many fans and vloggers around the world gather to know the news of the company.

In this event Disney announce what is coming new to the parks, new movies, merchandise and they show some trailers and parts of upcoming movies that only the people assisting this event can see.

At this biannual event many actors, directors and Disney legends come to give conferences, sign autographs and make the fans have an awesome experience. Also, fans come to the event dressing as their favorite characters, and they do so much effort to create amazing costumes.

This last weekend (September 9th till September 11th) was the event, this event has not happened due to the pandemic for 5 years now, and the Walt Disney Company announced some things that are happening soon. Here is some information for you!

The second Avatar movie “Avatar: the way of water” is coming late this year that is by 20th Century. Also, they announced that “The little mermaid” live action will be release next summer and they are working in a live action “Mufasa: the lion king” coming in 2024, a prequel of the Lion’s king and how Mufasa became a king. As well the company announce that this September 30th the second movie of “Hocus Pocus” will come out in Disney + and in the platform the movie “Disenchanted” the film starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey will come out in November 24 and they are working too in a live action called “Peter Pan and Wendy” that will be out next year.

The Disney company also announced new animated movies like “Elemental”, Pixar’s “Elio”, “Strange World”, “Wish” and the second part of “Inside out” one of the Pixar’s most famous movies, where now Riley will be a teenager and the emotions will follow these moments of her life.

And since the company also owns “Indiana Jones”, “Marvel”, “Lucas films” they announced new movies and TV shows too.

What do you think about all these things coming to the company? Are you excited for a specific movie?

A Mexican party for free!

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This Thursday September 15th the Mexican community will be hosting a Mexican party and the entrance will be free.

On September 16th of 1810 was the beginning of a social revolution that marked the starting of the independence of Mexico and on September 27th of 1821 was the ending of this revolution, it lasted 11 years and the reason was to get free from the Spanish domain.

The reason of this independence was that the Spanish domain was controlling the economies, culture and politics in Mexico, letting just some people be rich and mostly all the others poor. After the independence there was an economic crisis in the Spanish empire society due that Mexico was the 80% of their economy.

So, every September 15th Mexicans gather and celebrate the independence of the country, and anywhere in the world where they are they celebrate, so if you want to know more about this celebration here is the information:

The event this year will be in Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews Vancouver, BC) and will be from 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm. There will be show happening around the day, like a Mariachi music band with “Los Dorados”, Mexican Banda, Rumba, Folklore dancers, singers, Lucha libre wrestling and much more. There will also be a kid’s zone with fun activities for the young ones and Mexican food like tacos, quesadillas, pozole, esquites (corn), candies, sodas, and much more from different restaurants and food trucks.

So if you want to live a Mexican party with many traditions, great music and amazing food this is a great opportunity for you to experience it, also the Mexican consul will be there to do “El grito de la independencia” which is the independence shout saying “Viva Mexico”

Pinocchio, the new Disney live action

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Have you watched the new Disney’s live action based in their animated film “Pinocchio”?

Pinocchio is a story about an Italian fictional character that is a wooden boy/ puppet that became alive after his father/creator Geppetto wish to a star to make him a real boy, so the fairy godmother made him a wooden boy and tell him that he can be a real boy if he is a good boy and listen to his conscience, Jiminy Cricket.

The original story was written by Carlo Collodi back in 1883 and it was the second animated movie by Walt Disney after Snow White and the seven dwarfs in 1940.

The Walt Disney company has started few years ago to remake their animated classics into live actions, some of the best ones they have make are Cinderella (2015), Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Aladdin (2019)

The movie Pinocchio came out this September 8th in the Disney + platform and many people where waiting for it, but unfortunately it wasn’t as good as people were expecting, the movie has 5.2 in IMBD and only 30% Rotten tomatoes, for that reason many fans are saying that Disney should stop making live actions and just create new original content, although the company is working in many new live actions including “The little mermaid” that will come out in the summer 2023.

The movie Pinocchio follows a lot the same story than the animated movie, but one of the most disappointing things for the fans was that the song “Give me a little whistle” singed by Jiminy Cricket was not part of the movie, they also thing that they added a sad background to Geppetto’s story that was unnecessary and that the cricket in fact looked a little bit creepy.

Hopefully the upcoming Disney live actions can be better after the reviews from the fans after Pinocchio came out if they decide to keep making this kind of movies.

http://twitter.com/DisneyPlus/status/1567891761489494016?s=20&t=0pKTJQwApyGCWZvkY9ne7g

Horses, one of the best animals

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You know that horses can be a pet too? This big animals are amazing and ir gives you benefits if you have one.

1) Reduces Stress: As all the pets, even fish, horses helps reducing stress, but being around horses can give you a peaceful state of mind and of course pet them, walk with them and even brush them is amazing too.

2) They are fun: This animals have a lot of energy and are very playful so you can have fun around them.

3) Horses live long: More than other pets, horses live around 25 to 30 years, which of course is amazing to share more years with them.

4) They give you emocional support: Like dogs does, horses can know if you feel sad and they tend to be more sweet and playful with you in that moments.

5) You can do exercise too: Horses are a very good animal to do exercise with, you may won’t believe it but doing horse riding is a great work out for the legs and core.

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Also here are some fun facts about this animals: 

1) Horses can’t breathe through their mouth
2)  Horses can sleep standing up
3)  They have lightning fast reflexes
4)  This big animals have 10 different muscles in their ears
5)  Horses have a 360 degree field vision
6)  Horses do not have teeth in the middle of their mouth
7)  They are of course highly intelligent animals
8)  The earliest ancestor of a horse is estimated to have lived 55 million years ago
9)  Horses have a fixed pelvis, so they cannot do splits.
10)  And last one, horses of course are very social animals.

Of course as other pets they are animals and need attention and space, you need a huge garden to have a pet like this and a barn where he can sleep and be protected from the rain, also this big animals needs to eat a lot, they usually love fruit and veggies like apples and carrots and also love some cookies as a treat.

So this animal is very amazing and very sweet to have as company as long you have the space and time for it.

Trails that you can’t miss around Vancouver!

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Do you like hiking and enjoy the nature? The summer is coming and that’s something amazing to do while enjoying the great weather and of course get amazing views of likes, forest and even the city.

Vancouver and British Columbia are full of beautiful hikes and trails that will make you connect with the nature, the best part is that you don’t need to be an expert because you can walk in your own pace.

So let’s talk about some of the best hikes you can do bu yourself or with your friends.

Lynn Loop:

This hike is in North Vancouver and it’s an easy one, the views are amazing since you can get to see Vancouver Island from there. It will take you an hour and a half aprox. to do it.

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Grouse Grind:

This is a very famous hike on Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver, since this hike goes all the way up to the mountain is a hard one, because you can’t get down walking, you need to reach the top to get back in the gondola, but after 2.9 km walking you will have amazing views of the city.

Seymour Mountain:

This trail is a very beautiful and loved hike because it has beautiful views form different places like the Indian Arm, Golden Ears Peak and Mount Baker. This trail is 9 k.m. long and it’s a moderate to hard trail in the Mount Seymour, North Vancouver.

Burnaby Mountain:

Located in Burnaby this hike has many trails, but to get to the viewpoint on the top of the mountain this is a moderate hike that you can finish in around 45 minutes, it does have lots of stairs so you have to get ready for that, but the view is worth it.

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Minnekhada Regional Park:

This is an easy trail located in Coquitlam that you can finish in 2 hours and a half aprox. And it’s 10 km long. It is a very peaceful trail with a beautiful view of a lake in the middle and incredible trees around.

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Sasamat Lake:

This is one of my favourite trails in Port Moody , it is only 3.2 k.m. long and the best part is that you can swim in the lake, since it has a beach called “White Pine Beach”, the water is even a bit warm so it’s perfect for relaxing after the trail and don’t forget to bring some snacks.

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This are just some of many hikes around Vancouver where you can enjoy the nature and amazing views, so don’t forget to check them out this summer.